(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, I'm Steve Adubato.

Recently my colleague Jacqui Tricarico and I traveled with our team to do a series of interviews down at the 2024 New Jersey Education Association Convention Annual convention.

We talked to educators, educational administrators, authors, poets, people engaged in a whole range of activities, impacting our kids, impacting our schools in the world of education.

Here now are those conversations.

Jacqui, myself and some really interesting people in AC.

- I'm Jacqui Tricarico on location at the New Jersey Education Association's Convention here in Atlantic City.

I'm so pleased to be joined now by Liz Graham, who is the executive director and CEO of 180 Turning Lives Around.

Great to have you with us, Liz.

- Thank you very much for having me.

- Well, we were talking about this, I had the privilege of interviewing the former CEO Anna Diaz White.

She was being honored at the New Jersey Hall of Fame last year for her 40 plus years of service with the organization.

Dedicated so much time into the work that you're doing and you recently took the helm.

So, first describe for us what is 180 Turning Lives Around?

- So, 180 Turning Lives Around is an organization whose mission is based in preventing domestic violence and sexual violence, and providing response services.

We operate a 21,000 square foot safe home, the largest safe home in Monmouth County.

And we also have a youth helpline that is a statewide program.

So, we are based in Monmouth County and we have wraparound services for domestic violence and sexual violence survivors and youth.

- Youth mental health, such an important topic.

Something we're trying to cover as much as we can on our programming to get resources out there.

Things that are available for youth, for parents as well.

You've mentioned the program, it's called 2nd Floor.

Describe what it is and the app that is.

So, I downloaded that app.

It's so easy to download, so easy to use.

Describe all that for us.

- So, we know that when youth feel supported and they feel understood that they're more likely to reach out for support.

So, in 2008, in partnership with the Department of Children and Families, the 2nd Floor Youth Helpline launched to be a statewide program in New Jersey.

And the concept of the line is really to be, it was to be very discreet, to be able to provide confidential and anonymous support 24/7 to young people so that they could call us, text us, and get resources, get next steps for their problems, maybe identify a trusted adult, do some role playing.

And I'm so happy to say that I think since 2008 the stigma around getting help has certainly decreased, and that is a wonderful thing.

But we do know that there is an epidemic of loneliness throughout our state, throughout our country.

So, we're really trying to work hard to be there and meet kids where they are at.

And I'm so proud to say that we are just launching a new youth mental health app developed in a partnership with the Department of Children and Families.

And this app is going to be a game changer in the way that we're being able to provide services to young people.

And again, meeting them where they are right on their phones.

We're really excited about that.

- A quick tap you can message somebody.

That's what everybody does today where it's all about texting.

How quickly can I get a message out?

Can they reach out about anything at all?

- Anything at all.

So, that is really our platform is that we are not a suicide line, we are not a crisis line, we are an anything line.

Our mission is to let kids know, don't think about it, just reach out to us.

Reach out to us in the way that is comfortable for you.

We offer, still, we're offering phone calls where we are always talking to a live counselor.

Text messaging where you are always connecting with a live counselor, mental health professional.

And now in the app we're able to provide chat services.

So, we're really excited to be able to say that this is a New Jersey-based for New Jersey youth, and really don't think about it, just reach out to us.

- How are you getting the information out there that this is available to young people?

- So, really exciting time.

We have been able to launch a new marketing campaign around the youth mental health app that has been created with a lot of input from young people.

We had a focus group of over 1,000 young people contribute to the way we develop the app and certainly, how we have developed our marketing campaign.

Our campaign is about, it only takes a second to reach out for help, and we are really partnering with the school professionals.

We are partnering with community organizations and really trying to utilize social media campaigns and all of the traditional ways that you would reach young people - How have you seen the 2nd Floor program and the app so far?

How have you seen it really impacting and being a resource?

How many, just give us an example of how many people are reaching out per day to use this resource.

- So, we are super excited that we were able to launch this app.

We launched on September 12th to coincide with the beginning of the school year, 'cause we know that's a really great time to get information out to kids.

And we also know it's a really stressful time for kids.

And since then, so two months after launching, we have had over 3,000 young people download the app.

And when they're downloading the app, they're able to get access to a community board where they're able to post messages to their peers, peer-to-peer support, there is self-help resources that we are seeing that are being utilized in great volume.

And again, being able to chat with a live counselor.

So, we're really impressed with those results and we know that once we have kids have it downloaded on their phone, that really allows us to make sure that we're sending push notifications, reminding them that we're here.

Again, a game changer in the way that we're able to interact with young people and make sure that they know that this resource is available at all times.

- And that's one resource, but the people that are connecting back with the youth, they're also connecting them to other resources that might be available in their towns or communities, right?

- Absolutely.

- Other ways that they can find help.

- Absolutely.

So, the wonderful thing about 2nd Floor is that it is a New Jersey-based helpline.

So, our counselors are able to work with the youth and get very specific on what kind of resources that we're being able.

We might be web surfing with them to figure out, you know, if they share with us information about how we can best help them, we're able to drill down to a very, you know, a level of this might be a resource in your school or in your town.

So, we're able to make sure that New Jersey resources are being given to kids and that they're always talking to a mental health professional that is right there in their state.

- Like I said, we are here at the NJEA Convention, tons of educators here.

What can our teachers do inside the classroom to keep helping and continue to be a resource for our students when it comes to their mental health?

- So, I always like to say that we are really, I think, an asset to school professionals.

I think our school professionals in New Jersey do a wonderful job of connecting with kids.

They know the kids that they're working with.

But what we can offer is that we are available 24/7.

So, maybe you are dealing with a young person who, you know, you know that you're gonna see tomorrow and continue to work with them.

You can say, "2nd Floor is a resource, I might not be available at 3:00 am, if you need support, but 2nd Floor is there to get you through to when we talk again."

So, I think if school professionals can always keep us in mind when they are, you know, dealing with young people who might be experiencing some issues, but also keep us in mind for all of their young people that they're dealing with, because it's such a valuable resource.

We have kids that are contacting us about homework help, right?

Stressors, things that are, you know, that you don't get out of adolescence without experiencing.

And we also wanna make sure that kids know we are here when you do go through that major thing, because you don't get out of that adolescence without going through something that is major or at least major to you.

So, for school professionals to really know about 2nd Floor, spread the word.

Be good ambassadors of making sure that kids know about us.

Making sure they have our materials hanging in their classrooms.

That's really important.

- Well, I have the app downloaded, it takes two seconds.

It's great to just check it out and see what's available even in your community.

So, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us, Liz, and give us more insight about some helpful tools here in New Jersey.

- Absolutely.

Thank you very much.

- Thanks, Liz.

- So for Jacqui Tricarico, myself and our entire team down in Atlantic City at the 2024 New Jersey Education Association Convention, we thank you so much for watching, We’ll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

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